Steel Markets
January 8, 2021
AGC: Challenges Ahead for Construction in 2021
Written by Sandy Williams
Officials at the Associated General Contractors of America provided a troubling outlook for the construction industry for the first half of 2021. Postponement and cancellation of construction jobs, difficulty finding skilled labor, rising material costs, supply shortages and continued costs and challenges associated with COVID-19 suggest that the industry will not return to pre-pandemic levels for six months or more.
Just over one-third of contractors in metro areas added construction jobs in the 12 months through November, said AGC in its latest analysis of government data. Construction employment fell in 57 percent or 203 of 358 metro areas between November 2019 and November 2020. Another 33 percent of respondents reported construction employment as stagnant and only 34 percent added jobs during the period.
